Landslides and Mudslides

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    Alaska Man Survives Being Pinned Face Down by a 700-Pound Boulder

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    Rescuers found Kell Morris with hypothermia, wavering in and out of consciousness, face first in a creek as his wife held his head out of the water.Kell Morris does not remember exactly how he started tumbling or how he ended up on his stomach, but he remembers when a 700-pound boulder hit his back — the jolt of pain it caused as it pinned him down, and how instantly he knew he was in trouble.Mr. Morris, 61, said it was a “beautiful, beautiful day” on May 24 in Seward, Alaska, where he lives with his wife, Joanna Roop.Wanting to avoid the Memorial Day weekend crowds that clog up popular trails, the pair decided to hike near a remote glacier more than 120 miles south of Anchorage. It was a route they had taken before, and it was one they knew would be empty.They had been looking for a spot to cross a creek when the earth holding a group of boulders gave way and began sliding down. Mr. Morris, who had been standing there, started sliding, too. He said he tried to almost surf the sliding gravel but lost his footing and tumbled down.“The next thing I know, I’m face down in the creek and you can still hear these rocks,” he said, describing the clattering of falling rocks as “kind of a scraping and hitting at the same time, but it’s much, much deeper.”Ms. Roop, 61, who was several yards away looking for a good spot to cross the creek, also heard that distinctive sound.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Landslide at Quarry in Indonesia Kills at Least 10

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      Officials halted rescue operations on Friday evening after poor lighting and the possibility of more landslides put rescue workers at risk.At least 10 people have been killed in a landslide at a quarry mine in West Java, Indonesia, according to the country’s national disaster management agency.The landslide occurred around 10 a.m. on Friday near the city of Cirebon, which is about 135 miles east of Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital. All of those killed were quarry workers, according to the agency. Six others were injured and being treated at local hospitals.A news network, Kompas TV, broadcast images of the aftermath, showing excavators digging through the rubble as officials searched for survivors at the base of a steep hill.The search for additional victims was halted around 5 p.m. because of darkness and the risk of more landslides, Mukhammad Yusron, the commander of the region’s military district, told the Antara news agency. He said search efforts would resume on Saturday.Bambang Tirto Mulyono, the head of the West Java department of energy and mineral resources, told Detik Jabar, a local news site, that the landslide was caused by improper mining methods — mining from the bottom of the hill up, instead of from the top down.“We have repeatedly warned the mining operator, even in strong terms,” he said, adding that the Cirebon city police had cordoned off the site since February “because the mining method used did not meet safety standards.”Indonesia is prone to landslides during seasonal rains that typically occur from October to April.Last month, 10 people were killed after a landslide hit vehicles on Java, the country’s main island, and 25 people were killed in another landslide there in January.Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,500 islands with a population of more than 280 million people, was once covered by vast rainforests. But many of those forests have been cut down in the last 50 years to make way for palm plantations and farmland.Deforestation and illegal small-scale gold mining operations have also contributed to unstable soil conditions in the country. In November, 24 people died at an unauthorized gold mining area on Sulawesi island after a landslide. More

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      Southern California Braces for Storm Damage in Wildfire Areas

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      An intense storm could cause flooding and debris flows in areas burned by wildfires. Some residents have begun to evacuate.A large swath of California was bracing Thursday for an intense bout of rain that could lead to flooding and cause debris flows in areas recently burned by wildfires.The Southern California regions scorched by flames last month were of particular concern because the soil in those areas can repel water and allow sheets of water to race downhill, collecting debris along the way.In the Los Angeles area, about two inches of rain was expected over the next two days, but some parts of Southern California could receive more than four inches, according to the National Weather Service office in Oxnard, Calif. A torrent of rain within a short period could pose particular problems.“It’s looking like we’re going to be seeing the highest amount of rain that we’ve had in a single storm so far this season,” Lisa Phillips, a meteorologist with the Weather Service, said. Some officials in Southern California began to issue evacuation warnings and orders on Wednesday. In Santa Barbara County, the sheriff’s office ordered evacuations in areas in and around the burn scar of the Lake fire, which burned more than 38,000 acres last year. Residents under the order were told to leave by 3 p.m. on Wednesday, and those who chose not to evacuate were told to prepare to sustain themselves for several days if they had to shelter in place.Track the Latest Atmospheric River to Hit the West CoastUse these maps to follow the storm’s forecast and impact.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Body of Tennessee Factory Worker Killed in Hurricane Helene Is Found

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      She is believed to be the last employee who was missing after the plastics plant flooded. Authorities are still investigating the circumstances around the deaths. The remains of a sixth factory worker in eastern Tennessee who was swept away in the flooding brought on by Hurricane Helene have been found, ending a search for what is believed to be the last missing employee more than a month after the storm tore through the Southeast.Officials on Friday disclosed the identity of the body as Rosa Andrade, 29, one of a half-dozen victims of the flood who worked at Impact Plastics, a factory in the close-knit town of Erwin, about 120 miles east of Knoxville.“These people were just reporting to work that morning,” Andrew Harris, a captain with Unicoi County Search and Rescue, said in an interview on Saturday. “We’re trying to provide closure for the families, and obviously grieving with them.”The deluge at the factory on Sept. 27 was part of a trail of devastation caused by Helene, the Category 4 hurricane that hit the coast of Florida on Sept. 26 and decimated neighboring states with landslides and flooding in the days that followed. Helene killed more than 200 people across the Southeast.In North Carolina alone, there were more than 100 storm-related deaths, with damages and recovery efforts projected to cost the state an estimated $53 billion.Although Ms. Andrade is thought to be the last missing person from the factory, Mr. Harris said that search and recovery efforts continue for victims from North Carolina, some of whom are believed to have been swept into Erwin and nearby counties. State officials from Tennessee and North Carolina have suggested that at least a dozen people overall remain unaccounted for in the two states.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Arts District, Decades in the Making, in Ruins After Helene

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      The hurricane damaged an estimated 80 percent of the buildings in the River Arts District of Asheville, N.C., and upended the lives of artists who had recast the city as a cultural force.The French Broad River provided a scenic backdrop as an industrial neighborhood in Asheville transformed over the past 40 years into the River Arts District, a vibrant creative hub for art studios and galleries.More than 300 artists called the district home and its riverside vitality helped cement Asheville’s reputation as a cultural outpost, one worth settling near or venturing to as old warehouses and mills were converted into centers for both creative expression and economic growth.“There is nothing like the River Arts District in the United States and maybe even the world,” said Jeffrey Burroughs, president of River Arts District Artists, a support group. “It’s spaces where artists are in control of their businesses, their lives.”But much of the district was washed out by the floodwaters of Hurricane Helene. Buildings were swept away. Some galleries no longer exist. Creative works — some birthed decades ago — have been damaged and destroyed. Mud reigns.“It’s heartbreaking,” said Judi Jetson, founder and chair of Local Cloth, a nonprofit network of fiber artists, educators and enthusiasts. “We have three or four inches of mud inside the building and on most of our items. We’re trying to rescue whatever we can and people will take it home and wash them. The problem is a lot of us don’t have water, even at home, and nobody has electricity.”Jannette Montenegro tries to salvage items from the Cotton Mill Studios in the River Arts District.Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean, via USA Today NetworkWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Helene Has Killed More Than 90 People. Here Are Some of Their Stories.

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      Days after the Category 4 hurricane made landfall in Florida’s gulf coast, some victims’ portraits were coming into focus. A woman in her 70s who repaired nuclear cooling towers and rode motorcycles. A Florida resident who helped her community recover from Hurricane Ian two years ago. A man who had just moved to South Carolina to work as an electrical lineman.All three were among the more than 90 people killed by Helene, a roaring Category 4 hurricane that has devastated much of the Southeast since coming ashore last week. The victims came from at least six states — Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Many people drowned, and others were killed by falling trees, car crashes under heavy rains and a tornado produced by the storm. A lot of the victims were still unidentified.The toll is almost certain to rise as rescuers reach communities in the Appalachian Mountains, where devastating flooding and mudslides have decimated whole towns.But on Sunday, three days after the giant storm made landfall in the Big Bend region, some victims’ stories were coming into focus.In Florida, most of the 11 victims there drowned in Pinellas County, which is in the Tampa Bay region and the most densely populated county in the state. We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      At Least 66 Die as Persistent Monsoon Rains Inundate Nepal

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      Disasters in the small Himalayan nation have become more frequent as the effects of climate change increase.At least 66 people have died and 69 were missing in Nepal after incessant monsoon rains unleashed flooding and landslides across the small Himalayan nation, which has been increasingly pummeled by the effects of climate change.Rescue operations were underway for thousands of people, Nepali officials said on Saturday. At least 60 have been injured, and the death toll was expected to rise, the officials said.More than half of the dead were from the Kathmandu Valley, which includes Kathmandu, the capital. Highways into the city were closed.Binod Ghimire, a senior superintendent of police, said that more than 5,000 police personnel equipped with helicopters, rafts, ropes and vehicles had been deployed for rescue operations.Rescuers have evacuated more than 3,000 people, but flooding victims complained of delays. A video circulating on social media showed people who were swept away by the floods after waiting on the roof of a hut for hours.Many parts of the country were without power. “Several districts are disconnected from communication, so we are struggling to compile loss of lives and properties,” said Dan Bahadur Karki, a spokesman for the Nepal Police.The authorities asked people to stay indoors if possible. The rainfall was expected to stop by Sunday.The flood disaster occurred just as Nepalis were preparing to celebrate the Hindu festival of Dashain, which is scheduled to begin on Thursday. Hindu devotees travel for days to far-flung villages to obtain the blessings of their elders.Nepal, with a population of about 30 million, is the fourth-most-vulnerable country to climate change, according to UNICEF. In recent years, the frequency of disasters — including the bursting of glacial lakes as temperatures rise — has increased, claiming more lives.Local news media, citing the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, recently reported that 225 people have died and 49 have gone missing in disasters related to the monsoon season, which runs from June to September. More

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      Typhoon Shanshan Makes Landfall in Southern Japan

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      The risk of life-threatening landslides and floods was rapidly increasing in parts of Kyushu Island as the storm lashed it with relentless rain, the authorities warned.The storm unleashed torrential rain, hurricane-force winds and the threat of landslides.Kyodo, via Reuters More

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      Heavy Rain and Flash Flooding in Connecticut Leads to Car Rescues

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      Heavy rainfall in southwestern Connecticut led to mudslides, washed-out roads and flash flooding on Sunday, while thunderstorms sweeping through New York City disrupted flights and train service.The National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency or flash flood warning into Sunday evening for parts of Fairfield, New Haven, Litchfield and Hartford Counties, as overfilled rivers crested their banks and additional thunderstorms were predicted. Emergency crews carried out widespread water rescues, especially in the Southbury area, and several mudslides were reported, according to the Weather Service.The New York City area was also getting inundated on Sunday evening, as heavy rains caused all major airports in the region to ground flights. Officials warned of potentially damaging wind gusts. Flash flood warnings were issued in Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and several counties north and west of New York City. Video on social media showed water pouring from the ceiling of Chelsea Market.Chelsea Market in NYC flooding #nyc #storm pic.twitter.com/D3Qt3vuWY3— Haley Morgan Ryger (@hmryger) August 18, 2024

      There was heavy flooding in Central Park, where the New York Police Department said drivers should avoid the 86th Street Transverse. Parts of Harlem River Drive in Manhattan, Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx and Long Island Expressway in Queens were blocked because of the flooding, the police said.Amtrak and New Jersey Transit said at about 8:20 p.m. that all trains between New York and Philadelphia were temporarily suspended. By 10:25 p.m., services had been restored but delays continued. The New Jersey Turnpike Authority issued a travel alert on closures along the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More